The Saudi General Authority for Competition has said that it has accepted the application submitted by Noon AD Holdings Ltd. for economic concentration to fully acquire Namshi Holding Ltd.
In August last year, Emaar Malls Management had entered into a definitive share purchase agreement with Noon to divest 100 per cent of its stake in online fashion retailer Namshi.
“The cash consideration is the equity value of Namshi, which is equivalent to $350 million of ‘enterprise value’ of the company,” Emaar Properties had mentioned at the time.
Following this, Noon applied for GAC’s approval to complete the acquisition of all the shares of Namshi in December 2022.
Namshi.com is an online shopping site based in the UAE and offers various clothing, accessories, and footwear. Founded in 2011, the company was acquired by Mohammed Alabbar-owned Emaar Malls in 2019. The company first bought a 51 per cent stake in Namshi for $151m in 2017 from Rocket Internet’s Global Fashion Group. It later acquired the remaining stake in the online fashion retailer for $129.5m.
According to data from ecommerceDB, Namshi is the second largest e-commerce player in the UAE with a global revenue of US$419.6 million. Noon closely follows it with US$251.7 million. However, Amazon remains the top e-commerce store in the country with US$520.1 million in global revenues.
Noon is an e-commerce platfrom which is also owned by Mohammed Alabbar, in partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and was founded in 2016. It is headquartered in Riyadh. Noon is 50 per cent owned by the Saudi PIF while the remaining is owned by Mohammed Alabbar and other private investors in the region.
The Saudi GAC, meanwhile, commented on the acquisition and said that it not affect competition in Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that the market is highly competitive. Several competitors offer very similar services, indicating fair competition, a statement said.
The authority also stated that any impact on the level of competition is unlikely because all brick-and-mortar and online stores with the same production lines as the deal parties are subject to competition restrictions. There are no restrictions on replacement because they offer similar products.
GAC defined all online retail industry categories, including electronics, home appliances, clothing, cosmetics and personal care products, furniture, and other products such as groceries and games.
